


As Long as You Want It to Be

by spoowriterfic



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 08:14:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16013918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spoowriterfic/pseuds/spoowriterfic
Summary: "See, Baby Girl, I told you she'd be here."(Missing scene from 305, "Jolene".)





	As Long as You Want It to Be

**Author's Note:**

> Two quick notes: (1) I know Wynonna's truck is at least drivable by 307 but the thing was not in good shape and I just assumed Wynonna was still short a vehicle at this point; (2) I'm operating under the assumption here that Doc freed Nicole more or less at the same time as Waverly and Jolene were having their standoff at the greenhouse -- which is why she didn't come riding to the rescue with Wynonna and Mama.

Waverly huddled in the front seat of the police cruiser, arms around herself and eyes staring blankly out at the passing snow-covered landscape. The sky behind them was just beginning to lighten as dawn approached, but she was staring instead into the pitch-black darkness.

She hadn’t said a word since the tree had taken Jolene.

Wynonna didn’t quite know what to do.

Waverly was usually optimism personified. Quiet, withdrawn, shaking Waverly was…well, not unprecedented, but deeply unusual.

Weirder still was Mama’s silent presence in the back seat.

After so long without her…having her just sitting back there watching as she drove them back to the Homestead…it was…weird.

None of them felt any of the joy they’d felt earlier when they’d killed the revenant and mistakenly thought they’d gotten then-unnamed demon.

In fact, the atmosphere in the car was dark and oppressive, and full of regret.

Wynonna was certainly no stranger to regret, but she usually ignored it or drank it away. It was harder when it was Waverly sitting right next to her in their borrowed car – they’d retrieved her truck from where it had gone off the side of the road but it was still in the process of having its engine rebuilt and tires replaced – and the air was thick with the things they’d all said under Jolene’s influence.

And on top of that, Wynonna wasn’t sure what, exactly, had happened to Waverly when she was alone with Jolene in the greenhouse, but her lingering despair was obvious.

Despair, and something…else.

Doubt.

“What happened?”

Waverly shook her head.

“Jolene – ”

That got her to speak, at least, as she interrupted, “Wynonna, I – ”

“Okay. Not with Jolene. What happened?”

Waverly shook her head again, then leaned her head against the window as though she had a headache.

And suddenly, though she didn’t know why, Wynonna _knew_.

She knew what Waverly was worried about – and she knew, one hundred percent, that she didn’t have to be.

She wasn’t one to put her trust in…well, anyone, really. Except maybe Waverly.

And it hadn’t been _that_ long ago that she really wouldn’t have been sure, but something had changed.

Maybe it had been Nicole almost shooting her at tentacled-Waverly’s orders. Maybe it had been her surviving the Widow venom only to let Waverly blow the both of them up to maybe bring Wynonna back. Or maybe it had been all she’d done to save Alice – which she’d done with her usual stolid, unflinching, utterly loyal nobility. Nicole Haught was ride-or-die for all of them; there was no longer any doubt at all in her mind.

She was no longer waiting for one demon or revenant or witch too many. She could trust, now, that Nicole was just as deep in this mess as the rest of them.

“She’ll be there.”

Waverly just sniffled and stared out the window as the frozen landscape continued to pass by.

The silence lengthened and grew even more uncomfortable.

What kind of small talk could you make with your clearly traumatized sister or your suddenly-reappeared mother who, it turned out, had been absolutely right that there had been a demon to vanquish all those years ago? Especially when you, a hangover connoisseur, had a nearly-unprecedented, truly legendary hangover?

Wynonna knew herself to be direct to the point of bluntness, but even she had her limits.

She saw Nicole’s patrol car sitting between the barn and Doc’s haphazardly parked car just a second before Waverly did; then she heard Waverly stifle a gasp and she reached out to squeeze her hand.

She was still shaking.

“See, Baby Girl,” she said quietly, “I told you she’d be here.”

“But we – we had a fight,” Waverly choked out. “She was so mad. She – she said – ”

“You cut that out,” Wynonna snapped, oblivious to Mama in the back seat. “It was the demon. She _loves_ you. You know that. Hell, _I_ know that. You guys ain’t subtle.” Waverly wiped a tear away but didn’t say anything. “Baby Girl, she would crawl fifteen miles on broken glass just to sweat in your shadow and you know it.”

Waverly shot her a disgusted look, but it cheered Wynonna to see that bit of spunk, minimal though it was. She parked and was circling around to help her sister out of the car when she heard the front door to the Homestead bang loudly open and Nicole’s voice call out frantically, “Waverly!”

She got a brief glimpse of Doc, who seemed eager to skedaddle – likely because he wasn’t quite ready to face Mama yet; he slipped behind the Homestead and out of sight before she could say anything.

Meanwhile, Nicole ran across the snow, apparently heedless of the freezing cold and the fact that didn’t have her coat or gloves on and was only wearing her uniform and a pair of half-tied tennis shoes. She froze awkwardly just in front of Waverly, waiting, until Waverly took a shaky step towards her, then she surged forward and enveloped Waverly in her arms, saying in an anguished rush, “Oh, baby, you’re okay. Thank God you’re okay.” She somehow pulled Waverly even closer, rocking both of them in place. “I’m sorry; I’m so sorry, Waverly. I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean it. I don’t even know why I said – ” Suddenly, she frowned and glanced up inquiringly at Wynonna. “J…the demon?”

“Taken care of.” Nicole shot her a _not good enough_ look. Damn, but she was smart – she’d caught right onto the lack of ‘sent her to hell with Peacemaker.’ “Later,” Wynonna said. “Long story. But she’s taken care of. Promise.”

Only then did Nicole seem to notice the cruiser. She glanced from Wynonna to the car and back again, eyebrows raised in a combination of curiosity and accusation. “We were in a hurry,” Wynonna said as if it explained everything.

“You hotwired a police cruiser?” Nicole asked, and though she her tone was overtly disapproving, she wasn’t able to completely disguise a touch of admiration as well.

Wynonna scoffed. “No. Well, I mean, I _have_ but not this time. Nedley let us borrow it soon as he realized Waves was in danger.”

“Oh.” If she found it odd that Nedley would let a civilian and her fugitive mother borrow a police cruiser, she didn’t say so. She’d learned over the past few months that he was willing to bend the rules when it was really necessary. Instead, she began, seemingly unconsciously as her eyes were still on Wynonna, to stroke Waverly’s hair. “How did Doc…did you call him? Because he ran in looking for Waverly a couple minutes ago; we were just about to come find you. Jolene had me locked in the closet.” She rolled her eyes at Wynonna’s giggle but didn’t object. The banter centered both of them and had the secondary effect of cheering Waverly up a bit.

“She locked _you_ …in the closet?”

Nicole shrugged.

“Wynonna,” Waverly said in a mildly scandalized tone, her voice muffled by Nicole’s shoulder.

“What? One of us had to make the closet joke.”

Nicole rolled her eyes again. “Unless you’ve been _in_ one – especially the metaphorical one – prob’ly should be me. Just…for future reference.”

“Fine, fine. Plenty of other stuff I can make jokes about.”

Nicole’s lips were beginning to turn blue and her teeth were beginning to chatter. She very obviously turned her attention away from Wynonna and pitched her voice quieter to ask, “Do you wanna go inside? I was waiting here for you before I realized – before she came. I brought all the stuff for a sorry party.” She studiously ignored Wynonna’s over-the-top fake gagging. “I got you balloons and a teddy bear, and we can – ”

“We?” Waverly interrupted her, tentatively, still actively _not_ making eye contact with any of them – and all thoughts of banter disappeared as Wynonna saw red when she heard that note of doubt in her baby sister’s voice. Problem was – the rage had nowhere to go. There weren’t any revenants nearby, Jolene was…unavailable, and Waverly would beat her to death with a carrot if she touched a hair on Nicole’s head.

Nicole heard the uncertainty too, and tears filled her eyes. “Always ‘we,’ baby,” Nicole choked out as two tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks. “Always. As long as you want it to be.”

And just like that, the desire to shoot her sister’s girlfriend evaporated. If she weren’t Wynonna Earp, she might even admit to being charmed. Gruffly, she said, “Get Bonus Blankets here inside before she freezes.” Of course, Nicole was actually more likely to wind up with frostbite standing there in only one layer of clothing, but it was another familiar joke and it served to center all of them.

Once they were facing away from her and walking back inside, arms wrapped so tightly around each other that they looked almost like one four-legged person in the pale dawn light, she allowed herself a small smile. For a moment, she even forgot Mama was right there next to her, until she heard her say, “So…that’s the cop?”

She had no idea, really, where Mama and Waverly stood with each other – or how Mama would react to any of this. Nicole existing. Nicole not being ‘Nick.’ Nicole being a cop – she was technically a fugitive, after all. Nicole being very obviously totally at home at the Homestead.

Well.

Waverly was the priority. Even above Mama.

If Mama was going to object to any of it, she was damn sure going to protect Waverly from that.

So, she dawdled deliberately to give Nicole time to get Waverly upstairs and out of earshot. Just in case. She carefully ensured the doors to the cruiser were closed, then went over and inspected Nicole’s for good measure. She even made sure the barn door was secure and Doc’s car doors were locked before she shrugged and answered, “That…is Nicole Haught. Rule follower extraordinaire and your daughter’s snuggle buddy.”

Mama did a double take. “ _Hot_? Her name’s Hot?”

It was funny how she could _hear_ the way Mama was spelling it in her head. “H-A-U-G-H-T.” A pause. “But yeah. Kinda on the nose. Woulda sucked for her if she grew up ugly.”

They began to stroll slowly towards the house. “Coulda introduced herself.”

Wynonna shrugged. “Wasn’t her priority.”

“Is she good enough for my Waverly?”

Thank God. Some good luck after all. If _that_ was all Mama cared about, Waverly was home free. It wasn’t even a question.

Wynonna allowed herself another small smile. “She was waiting inside for us, wasn’t she?”

“So?”

“So I don’t tell just _anybody_ where I hide the spare key to the Homestead.” She stood back to let Mama inside. Then: “I give her…we give _each other_ lots of shit because…because that’s what we do. But she’s a good person. Loyal. Hell of a lot smarter than anyone else Waverly’s ever dated. And she’s the best thing that ever happened to her.” Another long pause as she looked sideways at her thoughtful mother. “I’ll lock up all your booze if you _ever_ tell her I said so.”

“Fair enough.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is the last of my currently in-progress stories. I'm not a "write on demand" type and have to wait for inspiration to strike, so I can't promise more new stuff but I'll start reposting my stuff from FF.net here over the next few weeks. (And you never know when another line will pop into my head and demand a story that justifies it; for this story, it was the line referenced in the summary.)
> 
> Oh, and I'm guessing many of you are (good grief) young enough to not immediately catch the reference, but I tossed a "Xena" quote in there just for fun.


End file.
